Lighthouses, majestic towers from a bygone era when their lights and horns were needed to guide ships safely along treacherously rocky coasts and river mouths. Today they are looked upon as symbols of both guidance and hope. Some lighthouses however were just as dangerous as the shores they guided ships by. One such lighthouse is the Tillamook Rock Light or as others call it "Terrible Tilly".
Built in 1881 upon on an expanse of rock that's just under an acre, 1.2 miles offshore, and 100 feet above the waves, Terrible Tilly is consistently assaulted by waves. Back when it was in use it was only accessible by a form of lift called a breeches buoy, which would be tethered to a derrick on the rock, and used to pick up or drop off the keepers from/to a boat waiting below. Some not so lucky keepers and sailors lost their life while using the buoy, due to the unpredictable waters at the rock.
Like all old structures, Tillamook Rock Lighthouse comes with many a strange tale. One involves a keeper who despite the three month work shifts, apparently went insane and tried kill his replacement so he could stay. His attempt at remaining at the rock was ended however by a push down the stairs as he gave chase to the new keeper.
Over the years tales of ghost ships drifting past the rock abounded, as well as stories of voices and other ghostly activity being experienced within the lighthouse itself when it was crewed. The Native Americans of the area told tales of the rock being home to spirits, well before the Terrible Tilly was even built. Even today, after having been retired for nearly 52 years, some people still claim see a strange light coming from the tower in the dead of night.
Sources and Further Reading:
Tillamook Rock Light - Wikipedia
Tillamook Rock Lighthouse - Discover Oregon Lighthouses
Haunted Lighthouses - scroll down to you find Tillamook Rock Lighthouse
Oregon's Haunting Lighthouses - Beach Connection
Tillamook Rock Ghost - Scenic Oregon Coast
Life on The Rock - Lighthouse News - good read about life at the lighthouse.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Tillamook Rock Light
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5 comments:
Oh my gosh! That is a fantastic lighthouse!!! I think some of the most haunted structures are lighthouses. It's sort of a combination of my haunted formula and what I've found with round buildings (feng shui?) they seem to keep things going circular without end. I also think that the combination of a powerful light (EMF) and a keeper who has to walk the same course and do the same routine every day, can make for a great residual haunting. Add to that rocks and constant water movement around it...wow! Thanks so much for covering the lighthouse. I hope you do the other Oregon ones too. There's some great ones there!
Great post, I'm intrigued by the Tillamook lighthouse. I don't know why, but for some reason, I've always had a very creepy feeling whenever I'm in Tillamook; just something about it is very oppressive, ... like the whole town is haunted.
Thanks for the comments!
Autumnforest,
I'm sure I'll cover the other lighthouses soon. Hopefully some pictures to accompany them.
Regan,
The Tillamook lighthouse is definitely intriguing, it has strange history to it. As for Tillamook feeling creepy, I haven't felt anything there myself, but I've never really been sensitive to things on that level. Although I wouldn't be surprised if there is something there, perhaps something to do with it's history. I think some infoweb searching is in order. :D
I think some infoweb searching is in order. :D
ooooooh, let's do it!
In fact, let's get up an Oregon team and go Fortean hunting in Tillamook!
Excellent idea! I've always wanted to do some real investigating!
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